


You're An All-Star

by SleepingReader



Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Platonic Relationships, Sign Language, found friendship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-09
Updated: 2019-04-16
Packaged: 2019-11-14 14:47:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,669
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18054533
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SleepingReader/pseuds/SleepingReader
Summary: There is a glittering Elf in Viren's mirror.If only he had a way to talk to the Elf without drinking a rock and cutting his hand.If only he had a sort of... sign language expert... chained up somewhere.Ffs Viren.





	1. Not the sharpest tool in the shed...

The dark cellar was quiet. The candle on the single chair was burning to a wick. A spider crept on the wall, hoping for a meal. It found none. A mole passed underground, but didn’t even bother to try and dig up. Soft chains jingled in the other room, but they didn’t wake the sleeping figure in front of the large mirror.  
He sat on a chair, head in his hand, fast asleep. A faint trickle of drool threatened to seep from his mouth, but his snoring kept it inside.  
Lord Viren never dreamt. Not since the moths.  
A distant part of his mind tried to remember what it was like, dreaming. But the most part of his brain was absent, trying to recover from the dark magic the mage had done.  
He snored. The spider crawled. The mole dug. The prisoner jingled. The candle burnt out.  
Lord Viren, smelling the smoke, woke up.  
His gaze was immediately drawn to the object of his fascination: the large mirror he had been sleeping in front of.  
When he noticed what had changed, he leaned forward.  
‘The fire!’  
And sure enough, the fire in the grate of the magical mirror room was lit. Viren leaned backwards again, but sat up straight suddenly when the door opened.  
A tall figure glided into the room, wearing a long hooded cloak. The figure seemed to be sparkling slightly, but even after rubbing his eyes, Viren could not figure out why.

The figure went towards the fireplace and seemed to select a book from one of the tall shelves on the bookcase. They did not pull anything down, nor did they make any effort to. Instead, Viren got a look at the glimmers on the figures arm and coat.  
Almost like the glitter Soren would cover himself in when he was a boy.  
Almost like stars.  
But… that couldn’t be, could it?  
Viren leaned even closer, but the figure turned around.  
‘No, no!’ Viren gasped, but the figure could not hear him  
They turned around, and exited the room.  
‘Who _are_ you?’ Viren asked the empty mirror.  
No answer.  
Viren was alone again.

The day passed as slowly as Harrow used to sign to his sister-in-law. But Viren was not a quitter. He kept staring at the mirror, hoping, praying that anything would happen. Something. Anything.

And by nightfall, something did.  
The glimmering figure strode into the room again. They halted in front of the fire. They turned around towards the door.  
Then they looked directly into the mirror.  
The figure marched forward as certain as a king in a battle. Viren took a step back. Was the starry figure able to go through the mirror?  
_Could the starry figure see him?_  
Now Viren could see that the figure definitely did sparkle.  
There was a tense moment in which both Viren and the figure raised their hands. But the starry one only adjusted their cloak.  
Viren gasped.  
‘You can’t see me. On your side… it’s just an ordinary mirror.’

But even though Viren knew the starry individual - Was it an Elf? Viren didn’t know - couldn’t see him, it didn’t mean Viren couldn’t spy on them. The glittering figure read a little in the windowsill, but was in the other room mostly. What they did there, Viren couldn’t see. He assumed it was just sleeping or more reading, but what if the figure did ancient and powerful magic there? He could only watch.

When we see Viren again, he is still seated in the same chair. Still focusing on the glittering figure. Who seems to be reading a book. They check something, then they put the book on the table. With a wave of their hand, the candles go out.  
Then they stare directly into Viren’s eyes.  
They step forward. Viren stands up straight, like a Corporal at attention.  
The starry figure draws the very fire from the fireplace. It collects in their hand. Their had closes.  
The mirror darkens.  
Viren’s audience is over.  
He leans forward, trying to catch a last glimpse of the individual.  
A hand comes forward from the dark. It touches the mirror.  
A hand with four fingers.  
Viren goes to sleep, his thoughts buzzing with questions.  
One thing he knows for sure.  
He is up against an Elf.

The next day brings the figure in front of the mirror again. Viren tries to enunciate clearly and obviously.  
‘Who. Are. You?’ He asks.  
The Elf merely looks at Viren’s staff, resting against the wall. They turn back to Viren, a smirk on their face. Strange, Viren can’t tell if the Elf is male, female or anything in between.  
The Elf turns away,  
‘What is it?’ Viren asks, desperately clutching the mirror frame. ‘Where are you going?’

The Elf returns a while later. How long, Viren cannot tell. Time goes different in a dungeon.  
The Elf is carrying a chest. They set it on a table and move it so it is in front of the mirror. Then, the Elf opens the chest and begins unloading it with their glittering hands, holding up every item clear for Viren to see.  
A rock. A piece of cloth. A spool of thread with a needle. A grinder. A goblet. A knife.  
‘You want me to find these items. I can do that.’ Viren tells the figure, who merely curls one corner of their mouth in a smile.

Viren returns with the items, tiptoeing past his sleeping prisoner. An awake Commander Gren is simply too cheerful for Viren, right now. He now gets why Soren once referred to him as ‘The Strawberry Man’.  
The Elf is waiting for him as Viren puts the tray on the table.  
They pull the thread through the hoop of the needle and begin to embroider the cloth.  
Viren copies them.  
‘I’ve never seen this rune before.’ He muses, but the Elf has already drawn another rune in the air, and had gently nudged it towards the mirror, where the purple light spreads quickly, then vanishes.  
The rune on Viren’s cloth lights up.  
Viren follows the Elf’s instructions, wrapping his rock in the cloth, breaking it apart and crushing the geode into the goblet.  
The elf holds the goblet up in a toast.  
‘You expect me to drink this?’ Viren asks. The Elf holds their goblet higher, and downs the liquid. Viren brings the goblet to his lips…  
‘Wait a minute…’ He says. ‘Why should I trust you? I don’t even know who or what you are! I cannot even speak to you!’  
Viren sets the goblet on the table.  
The Elf looks suprised. This was not the way they expected it to go.  
‘I need time to think.’ Viren tells them, covers up the mirror, and strides out of the room. If only he could talk to the Elf without having to drink a mysterious substance.

Sunset comes with Viren on top of the castle. He is holding a cup of hot brown morning potion (thank you, dear Claudia, for the recipe). A crow flies over, carrying a message.  
A visit to the Crow Master gives him answers: The other four kingdoms have all replied.  
Viren sets off immediately, and attempts to convince the other four kingdoms to fight against the Xadian threat.  
But, lead by child Queen Aanya, they all decline.  
Not even after Viren tells the tale of Duren, the stone Titan and the demise of Sarai. Queen Aanya is not swayed.  
Viren returns to his cellar empty-handed.

His prisoner underneath the stairs looks up when he sees Viren.  
Commander Gren stands as much to attention as he can.  
He is sporting a five o’clock beard. In a full week. A five o’clock beard. _How old IS Gren?_   Viren wonders. But his thoughts are shattered by the Commander’s happy voice.

‘Welcome back! I hope you had a pleasant trip!’  
‘How can you possibly remain so cheerful in your dire circumstances?’ Viren asks. It is a rhetorical question, but Gren answers it anyway.  
‘Well, I think about it like this: Why see myself as chained dooowwnn…’ Gren says, pointing downwards, ‘While I could be chained UP!’ He says, obviously proud of himself, and giving Viren thumbs-up.  
‘I admire your tenacity.’ Viren says, and goes into the other room again.  
Then he steps back. A guinea pig… Right in front of his eyes. One that is young enough not to be too… horribly poisoned by drinking out of a strange goblet. Probably.

‘If I unchained you… Would you do something for me?’ Viren asks the Commander, who seems to be jingling his chains for fun.  
Gren thinks about this.  
‘If doing that thing will end up with me being even more chained up than I already am… Maybe not. But if that thing ends in me being at the Breach with Amaya… Yes.’ He says. It is a backwards way for requesting his freedom, but Viren understands nonetheless.  
‘How about we see about that last one, but I will give you a room, a bed, and better food for now?’  
Gren thinks again. His eyes turn hopeful.  
‘Xadian fruit?’

 

Viren returns a while later, bearing a platter, and a key.  
He unlocks Gren and leads him into the room Viren kept disappearing in.

Gren rubs his wrists. Even being chained up, they still hurt. He tries not to think too much about how Viren had used dark magic on that Elf here. He tries not to think too much, in case Viren can read his mind.  
Gren is allowed to sit in a chair. His right leg promptly falls asleep from the strange position. Viren sets a plate of Xadian fruit on the table next to the goblet.  
‘What’s that for?’ Gren asks curiously, pointing to the beaker.  
‘I’ll explain later. Eat, first.’

Gren eats the Xadian fruit as if it was a treasured gift. Carefully peeling the orange and putting small bits into his mouth.  
‘How did you know that the peel…’ Viren starts. Gren swallows before answering.  
‘That the peel gives you really bad indigestion? Trial and error, Lord Viren!’ He says, popping a berry into his mouth.

‘Alright, now you’ve eaten, will you be willing to do something for me?’  
Gren shrugs. ‘O-kay.’  
Viren uncovers the mirror. The Elf stands in a corner of the room. They raise an eyebrow and walk towards them. They pick up the goblet and mimic drinking.  
‘Do whatever this Elf says.’ Viren tells Gren. ‘I think they may have a magic that allows them to speak to us. Drink whatever is in this goblet, and do what they tell you.’

Gren looks doubtfully at the goblet, and at the Elf, who seems to be equally confused.  
Gren instinctively signs _’Good-day’_  
The Elf signs _’What?_  
‘Commander, I hope I will not have to threaten you?’ Viren asks, looking only at the confused Gren.  
Gren remembers the coins. He swallows thickly.  
‘No, it’s just…’  
‘Just _what_? Viren says, grabbing the man by the collar. His eyes bore into the Commander’s blue ones.  
‘You _do_ know I speak fluent Xadian sign language?’


	2. Get Your Game On

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Viren feels dumb
> 
> Gren talks to an Elf

Viren slowly releases Gren. His face is neutral, but the ginger man is sharp-eyed enough to see a flash of embarrassment glimpse over Viren’s face.  
‘You… Can speak to them?’ He asks.  
Gren glances at the mirror, where the starry Elf is waiting patiently, fingers folded in a triangle shape. Waiting for them to finish talking.  
‘Yeah, I’m pretty sure I can.’ Gren says. ‘Are you sure you want to trust this…’  
‘No questions.’

Gren stumbled to his feet, his sleeping leg trying its best to collapse under his weight. He leaned on the chair instead.  
The Elf looked up at him.  
They raised their hands.  
‘ _Speak_ ’ they signed. It was elegant, the stars on their skin shimmering and making an accent of their own. It was Xadian sign language: Intuitive, straightforward and magical in itself. Gren had taught himself in secret, in the faint distant hope that it would one day be useful for creating peace treaties. After all, it was said that the King and Queen of Dragons had their own form of sign language. 

‘What did they say?’ Viren asked.  
‘They told me to speak. So I will. What would you like me to say to them?’  
‘I.. have so many questions.’ Viren said, sitting down in the chair and curling his hand through his beard.  
The Elf behind Gren started signing again.  
_’Speak, so I may listen to you._ ’ Gren translated for them.  
‘Who are you?’ Viren asked, looking at the Elf. Gren with swift hands, translated for him.  
The Elf looked relieved, closing their eyes as Gren finished and leaning back slightly. To Gren’s trained eye, it looked as if the Elf were exhaling in bliss.  
_’How long it has been since I’ve talked to another being… Though I cannot hear your voice… How may I serve you?’_ They asked, perhaps a little wistful at the mention of hearing another’s voice.  
‘Who are you?’ Viren asked, and Gren translated.  
_’My name would mean nothing to you.’_  
‘ _Where_ are you?’  
The Elf seemed to think about this, looking around the room as if the question had just occured to them as well. _’I… don’t know._ ’  
‘Liar.’ Viren said and while Gren didn’t translate it, it seemed the Elf had caught the meaning.  
‘ _I am not lying. I never lie._ ’ Gren translated, while looking sarcastically at the Elf, who merely smirked at him.  
Viren turned away, muttering something about a mirror and a Dragon King. Gren looked at the Elf. The Elf looked at him inquisitively. Gren glanced at Viren.  
‘Just going to introduce myself, Lord-‘  
But Viren waved him away. ‘Yes, yes. But where are they?’ He muttered, walking circles around the room. 

‘ _What do you call yourself, human?’ _the Elf signed to Gren.__

__****_ _

___And suddenly, Gren was back home, listening to tales of his little sister as he held her by the hand while they walked through the barley, the sun glittering in her unruly ginger hair as if it had ripened too._  
‘…and when you meet an Elf, you should never give them your own name cause names have power and when they know your name they can put a spell on you. Promise me you’ll never give them your name when you’re fighting next to the Amaya at the Breach, Gren. You’ve got to promise!’  
‘I promise, Celia, I promise. Race you?’  
Her laughter was contagious as they darted through the fields back to the barn, a last late summer’s day before Gren went back to the Breach. 

__****_ _

____’You can call me… Friend.__ ’ Gren answered, remembering his promise to a sister he had not seen in a long time.  
The Elf nodded. _’Is that your job description, Commander Friend?_ ’  
_’Yes.’_ Gren said curtly, noticing that the Elf had seen his Commander’s armour and had made the right deduction. The Elf nodded appreciatively at his response, seemingly happy that someone had not forgotten the old customs.  
' _Very well._ '  
_’And what may I call you?’_  
_’Call me…’ _’ The Elf glanced around for inspiration. Their gaze fell on their hands. ‘ _Midnight.___ ’ they said with a slight smile.  
Gren inclined his head.  
_’And who is your master?’_ The Elf asked, glancing at Viren, who was talking to a candle, sending the flame flickering and making their shadows dance with his breath.  
The Elf raised an eyebrow when Gren frowned and began making mildly annoyed gestures.  
_’He is not. Call him ‘idiot.’, for meddling with magic he doesn’t understand.’_ ’ he said, glancing quickly at Viren to see if the dark mage could read his mind yet. It appeared that he couldn’t. 

_______The Elf simply smiled serenely._  
_’If he is not your Master, why do you serve him?’_  
Gren shrugged. _’I have no other choice. I am locked up in here until he decides I go free. I am as much a prisoner as you are._ ’  
‘ _And what if I told you I could get you out of there?_ ’ Midnight asked. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter to prove to myself that yes, I can still write and yes, I have not abandoned this fic to the shadow-wolves.   
> Annoying thing is, I don't know what happens next.   
> Thanks for reading, anyway!

**Author's Note:**

> Whoo thank you for reading this intro! I promise it gets better from here!  
> I would also like to promise that there will be no romantic relationships in this story, though you are of course free to ship whomever you want. Except for kids. C'mon.


End file.
